20,000 Leagues Above The Sky Prettified And Diversified

20,000 Leagues Above the Sky caught our John’s eye in 2013 with talk of single-player steampunk airship combat. But where is he now developers That Brain have returned to show off a new look for the game? On holiday! Swanning about digging holes and staring at plugs. What would he think of the game now? All we can do is try to channel the spirit of John Walker and revisit his impressions.

Fortunately, to help enable direct comparisons That Brain have updated the announcement trailer with some new footage, but kept the old curious pre-amble. Perhaps this won’t be so difficult.

It’s a peculiar announcement re-reveal video, beginning more like a tourism advert for Stockholm, but eventually remembering that it’s meant to be about a game. And is seemingly narrated by Bjork Björk. (I’m fairly sure it’s not.)

That Brain are Swedish while the pint-sized poplet and television expert is of course Icelandic, but perhaps John would still go for that joke. This works. I’m sure he’d correct Björk’s name to have the umlaut too. This is good. This channelling lark is easy.

Obviously this is not the only airship combat game. Air Buccaneers and Guns Of Icarus spring immediately to mind. But what stands out here – from my misanthropic perspective at least – is that it’s single-player. There are plans only vague hopeful plans for multi eventually, as the core game is designed to be an accessible single-player experience, character-driven, and inspired by the likes of Miyazaki, Firefly, and Baldur’s Gate. Sure, anyone can name names, but they’re naming the right ones.

We perhaps need a mild update to this paragraph, as multiplayer seems contingent upon the game selling well, but that’s all really. Here at RPS we’ve since started linking to official websites for names of games and things, so I’ll just hunt down a few links to add. There. Good. Lovely.

Oh! But here’s a new thing that John didn’t comment on at all. That Brain tell us they’ve “been working extra hard” to improve the diversity of its character lineup. A quick glance at the official website shows characters from a spectrum of species, skin colours, genders, and personal styles. I suspect John would enthusiastically approve of that.

Is that it? Huh! Being John Walker is easy, mate. Here’s that updated trailer: